The present invention relates to a rotation mechanism for a waveguide feeder which is applicable to an antenna rotating section of a satellite tracking antenna system and others.
Generally, an antenna system of the kind described includes an antenna assembly having a predetermined construction and an antenna support and drive structure adapted to support and drive the antenna assembly. The antenna support and drive structure is made up of a foundation, a fixed section rigidly mounted on the foundation, and an antenna drive section rotatably mounted on the fixed section to rotate the antenna assembly. Both of the fixed section and the antenna drive section are implemented with hollow yokes so as to accommodate therein a waveguide feeder which is connected to an antenna side and another waveguide feeder which is connected to a device side. The waveguide feeder on the antenna side is rotatable together with the rotary yoke of the antenna drive section.
A majority of mechanisms heretofore proposed to rotate a waveguide feeder as stated above use a rotary joint. In a rotary joint type rotation mechanism, the stationary and the rotary yokes are rotatably interconnected through a bearing which is adapted for the rotation of the antenna. The waveguide feeders on the antenna side and the device side are interconnected by a rotary joint and allowed to rotate smoothly by a bearing associated with the rotary joint.
A problem with the prior art waveguide feeder rotation mechanism constructed as described above is that the structure is complicated due to the need for the bearing for the rotatable connection of the yokes and the bearing for the rotation of the rotary joint, resulting in a prohibitive cost.